Wild, Flyers Reportedly Discussed Marco Rossi Trade

If it was only a player OR late 1st as reported, the Flyers did the Wild a favor by nixing it 

Both teams being unwilling to spend $7M/AAV and Rossi wanting that is very interesting.  That may be the most difficult part of this trade.  

25 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

If it was only a player OR late 1st as reported, the Flyers did the Wild a favor by nixing it 

It shouldn't be, unless maybe it was Konecny or Michkov. Rossi should be worth both Foerster and the late 1st, not one or the other.

I imagine that discussion was the Flyers reaching out to the Wild, not the other way around, and Guerin suggesting that it would take a young player like Foerster and a 1st for the Wild to consider any deal.

35 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Both teams being unwilling to spend $7M/AAV and Rossi wanting that is very interesting.  That may be the most difficult part of this trade.  

Rossi needs to fire his agent.

Flyers have alot of young players I like so I’m glad bill is talking to them.  Based on his stats it would appear to be a one for one trade. 7.5M AAV.  The fact that they rejected it should bring Rossi’s camps demands down to earth a bit.  You’re only worth what someone’s willing to pay for you. 

1 minute ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Flyers have alot of young players I like so I’m glad bill is talking to them.  Based on his stats it would appear to be a one for one trade. 7.5M AAV.  The fact that they rejected it should bring Rossi’s camps demands down to earth a bit.  You’re only worth what someone’s willing to pay for you. 

Re Foerster: 

In addition to his offensive production, Foerster contributed defensively with 75 hits and 54 blocked shots over the season. His physical play and willingness to engage in all zones have made him a valuable two-way forward for the Flyers.

appears Foerster would be an upgrade to our lineup.  Ability to create offense and shows signs of an ability to play big boy hockey.  

13 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

In addition to his offensive production, Foerster contributed defensively with 75 hits and 54 blocked shots over the season. His physical play and willingness to engage in all zones have made him a valuable two-way forward for the Flyers.

appears Foerster would be an upgrade to our lineup.  Ability to create offense and shows signs of an ability to play big boy hockey.  

75 hits is not a lot, is it? Rossi had 62. He's bigger, but half the assists of Rossi. Foerster did have an extra Empty Net goal above Rossi's goal total, and might be a better fit with Yurov, but I still think Rossi is the better player today and the same age.

28 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

75 hits is not a lot, is it? Rossi had 62. He's bigger, but half the assists of Rossi. Foerster did have an extra Empty Net goal above Rossi's goal total, and might be a better fit with Yurov, but I still think Rossi is the better player today and the same age.

Disclaimer: I don't know enough about Foerster's game to judge whether or not it's a good trade for us.  Only trying to assess who he is as a player based on a quick look at stats.  The fact that they stepped up with a $7.5M bridge deal speaks volumes.  Now if Fletcher made that deal all bets are off. 

Just now, Pewterschmidt said:

Disclaimer: I don't know enough about Foerster's game to judge whether or not it's a good trade for us.  Only trying to assess who he is as a player based on a quick look at stats.  The fact that they stepped up with a $7.5M bridge deal speaks volumes.  Now if Fletcher made that deal all bets are off. 

I don't know his game either. Looking back at a draft profile, he wasn't a great skater at draft time, but had an excellent shot. Many projected him as a 2nd rounder for much of his draft year, but he finished the season well and went 23rd to the Flyers.

Sounds like he wasn't great on defense either, but was strong on power play units in the OHL. If his skating and defense have improved, perhaps he'd be too valuable to also get a 1st round pick in return with him, but I still don't know that they would want to swap him just player for player.

The Flyers are a poor team with a few skilled undersized forwards, so they may not want to get smaller either. I'm sure there are plenty of other teams who would be interested if the Wild end up trading Rossi.

The Rossi thing is so strange.  Why did Guerin draft him then in the first place?  Did he expect him to grow 6 inches and add 30 pounds lol?  Also by demoting him to 4th line status in the playoffs and greatly limiting his playing time you reduce his value in trades IMO.

On 5/30/2025 at 10:35 AM, Pewterschmidt said:

In addition to his offensive production, Foerster contributed defensively with 75 hits and 54 blocked shots over the season. His physical play and willingness to engage in all zones have made him a valuable two-way forward for the Flyers.

appears Foerster would be an upgrade to our lineup.  Ability to create offense and shows signs of an ability to play big boy hockey.  

I have come to the conclusion that hits in the regular season mean nothing. What will he do in the playoffs. IIRC, Hyman for the Oilers had about the same amount of hits in the regular season. He has surpassed that in the playoffs so far. Would Foerster do the same? We don't know since Philly hasn't made the playoffs in awhile.

38 minutes ago, greg said:

The Rossi thing is so strange.  Why did Guerin draft him then in the first place?  Did he expect him to grow 6 inches and add 30 pounds lol?  Also by demoting him to 4th line status in the playoffs and greatly limiting his playing time you reduce his value in trades IMO.

I think he deferred to Judd on this one, and Judd was pretty new to the organization at the time. I still would have taken Lundell over Rossi, but I believe the going consensus was that Rossi was the most ready to play immediately on the board. Then Covid stole Rossi's health. 

I would have expected Rossi, who was listed at 185 to make it to 195, and I thought he was a stockier player. 

You know, this could have a real easy solution: Rossi signs a 1 year bridge deal to get to arbitration, has another offseason where he adds a bunch of strength weight, and he lights up the scoreboard for 80 points, while not getting pushed around. I never expect him to be a big hitter, but he could leverage some contact and just be a stronger player. He could get rid of the "soft skill" label. 

8 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I think he deferred to Judd on this one, and Judd was pretty new to the organization at the time. I still would have taken Lundell over Rossi, but I believe the going consensus was that Rossi was the most ready to play immediately on the board. Then Covid stole Rossi's health. 

I would have expected Rossi, who was listed at 185 to make it to 195, and I thought he was a stockier player. 

You know, this could have a real easy solution: Rossi signs a 1 year bridge deal to get to arbitration, has another offseason where he adds a bunch of strength weight, and he lights up the scoreboard for 80 points, while not getting pushed around. I never expect him to be a big hitter, but he could leverage some contact and just be a stronger player. He could get rid of the "soft skill" label. 

Keep in mind that while Rossi was drafted at 185 lbs, he lost most of that weight and muscle mass due to Covid.

By the time he started skating again, he was down to the 160's. And had lost all of his built up muscle mass.

It literally took him 2 and a half years to just get back to his draft weight, and the past two to get back to the muscle mass he was at prior. I think he'll start to actually build it to closer to the 190-200 lbs mark over the next couple of years. Which is where he would of been at now if not for Covid.

29 minutes ago, RazWild said:

It literally took him 2 and a half years to just get back to his draft weight, and the past two to get back to the muscle mass he was at prior. I think he'll start to actually build it to closer to the 190-200 lbs mark over the next couple of years. Which is where he would of been at now if not for Covid

And this is the type of player that you would want to keep around. He may not like the bridge offer, but that's the way the CBA is set up. Take a 1 year and bet on yourself. Work your butt off and see what will come. Another year you get arb rights and still have offersheet leverage. 

Any offersheet that brings about a 1st and 3rd in compensation should immediately be matched. A 1st, 2nd, and 3rd would be fair compensation if the team was projected to be in the bottom 10 of the league.

I keep seeing the Rossi for Peterka rumors coming up, and I have to wonder if that is, indeed, what Guerin is looking for. Their production and age are similar, Peterka does it on the wing, Rossi at center.

But here's the thing I'm looking at. Guerin has said he wants larger bodies. We're looking at Rossi who is 5'9" 185-190. Peterka is listed at 6' 190. Listed measurements are about as accurate as wrestling. But if Peterka is only 3" taller and maybe a couple of pounds heavier, that doesn't seem to move the needle much.

Perhaps putting it a little differently would help. Rossi is in the light-middleweight category currently and Peterka is in the middleweight category. In the playoffs, and this is what Guerin is trying to build now, not a get to the playoffs team but an in the playoffs team, I don't see how the extra couple of pounds matters much. Clearly, Peterka is lankier than Rossi, so if Rossi is the same weight, his shorter leverage should be superior. 

I think before trading out Rossi, the guy you have, you should probably give him a look on the wing and see what it can give you. Rossi appears to be a center who could play wing, much like Granlund did when it unlocked his scoring potential. Rossi still needs to add beef, but could he be even better than Peterka on the wing? 

Where I think the fail here is the insistence of the Wild to force (strongly encourage) all of their prospects in Iowa to get bigger and stronger. I don't see what the disconnect is here, other than it's a choice and what kids are gym rats (answer is OgZ). Their dreams are playing in the NHL. They've worked hard to get where they are. Why not just speak plainly to them, you NEED an NHL ready body to play in the NHL? Other franchises do not have this problem, but not all. This should be the first thing talked about in training camp: "If you want to get my (Guerin's) attention in camp, come in with an NHL body." Their first year in Iowa should be all about filling out and helping that with weight training. Their season has enough down time to focus on this. It's not rocket science, it's about demanding more from your players!

To this day, Rossi is the only prospect to take this to heart, but he needs another big offseason to build on it. Before that, Ek did the same thing. If you don't want to do it, essentially, a player falls 1 step down from his dream. To me, that would be very hard to accept.